KIRKUS REVIEW

Jimmy Carter’s chief domestic policy adviser tells all.

In 1981, Eizenstat (The Future of the Jews: How Global Forces
Are Impacting the Jewish People, Israel, and Its Relationship with the United
States, 2012, etc.) began research on a history of the Carter
presidency. Drawing on 5,000 pages of his own “detailed, often verbatim” notes;
350 interviews with individuals within and outside of the administration
(including Carter, his wife, and Walter Mondale); and copious material from the
Carter Presidential Library and many other sources, the author has created a
mammoth, authoritative, and comprehensive history of four tumultuous years. A
born-again Christian peanut farmer, Carter promised to fight “for the common
good against Washington’s entrenched interests.” He disdained politics and had
no interest in—or talent for—“buttering up Congressional egos and rallying
interest groups and the public” to support his policies. Eizenstat highlights
Carter’s many accomplishments: He championed human rights domestically and
internationally; reined in Soviet interests in the Persian Gulf and Middle
East; doggedly negotiated a peace accord between Israel and Egypt; deregulated
crude oil and natural gas prices as well as the transportation industry;
pursued an aggressive conservation policy; bailed out New York City and
Chrysler from bankruptcy; and oversaw the creation of 10 million new jobs. From
the outset, though, Carter’s administration was undermined by mismanagement,
astounding ineptitude, and bad luck. He assembled a strong Cabinet but provided
no clear guidance on his own goals, and most staff were inexperienced. A
micromanager, he drowned himself in details, and he failed to communicate
adequately to the press, lawmakers, and the public. He was also beset by
divisiveness in Congress and among various constituencies. Domestically, he
faced stagflation (high inflation and rising unemployment). In his final year,
to the CIA’s surprise, Iran erupted in revolution, resulting in 52 Americans being held hostage in the U.S. Embassy. Eizenstat enlivens his chronicle with deft
portraits of a huge cast of characters, including a headstrong 29-year-old
pollster who became “almost like Rasputin” to Carter.

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